Welcome to Holla's blog: Registrar reveals how pet owners spend £20,000 marrying loved up animals

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Registrar reveals how pet owners spend £20,000 marrying loved up animals

An animal registrar has revealed how some clients spend up to £20,000 marrying their loved up pets.
For a £150 fee, any small mammal can get wed in Ann Clark’s back garden in Desborough, Northamptonshire.
But she says some besotted owners go to extreme lengths, hiring outside caterers, professional photographers, and even chauffeur driven limousines for their pampered companions.

I now pronounce you husband and wife: Registrar Ann Clark at a previous wedding between two dogs

Ann, 55, who also runs a cattery, Kitz Katz, from her countryside bungalow, said: 'The basic ceremony fee includes using the wedding venue in my garden.

'But people usually want to spend a lot more than that - they often ask if they can hire caterers, and employ a professional wedding photographer to capture their special day.
'One lady spent almost £20,000 on her dogs’ wedding - although that was very extravagent, and included a harpist and a six-foot chocolate fountain. Most people will spend a few hundred - possibly a few thousand.'

Blushing bride: A dog has its costume fitted, complete with white veil, white dress and under netting

In demand: Dressed in her dog collar and bunny ears Ann gears up for a rabbit wedding

Ann started performing pet weddings four years ago and after advertising online she was inundated with requests.
Since setting up her unusual business she has married dogs, cats and even rabbits.
A typical pet wedding starts with a champagne breakfast at Ann’s house for human guests - while the bridal party enjoy milk and water.
As the service begins, the bride is walked or carried onto a pagoda in the centre of the garden, to meet her groom, where the wedding ceremony takes place.

Crowd puller: Wedding guests take pictures as the rabbit bride and groom are walked down the aisle

And after they’ve been pronounced husband and wife, the pair have their photographs taken for the wedding album - before tucking into a huge bowl of treats to celebrate.

SAMPLE OF VOWS READ OUT AT ANN'S PET WEDDINGS

Wherever you go, I will go
Wherever you stay, I will stay
Paw in paw we’re stronger together
Every day brings us new adventures
Eight paws are better than four
I now pronounce you husband and wife
You may now lick the bride

There is no legal basis in the marriage, and Ann is not officially a registrar - but that doesn’t put off the scores of people queuing up to have her perform a marriage ceremony for them.
Ann added: 'The actual wedding days are lovely - it’s beautiful when you see animals that clearly adore each other being joined together.

'The owners can get very emotional too - there are often a lot of guests and it’s a lovely day out for everyone, just like a human wedding.'
But Ann admits after having a fairytale wedding some pets find marriage difficult.
'Sadly, we’ve had one cat who was widowed, after her husband was run over by a car. Her owner called to say how devastated she was.
'We’ve also sadly had one divorce; the owners called up a few months after the wedding to tell us the animals had grown apart. That has been our only divorce.'